Columbia, MO
Columbia, MO Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Columbia, MO Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Columbia ranks 55th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 120th for income. A household earns $80,142 a year while median rent runs $1,115/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 11% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is education (19th of 300), while home prices is the soft spot (135th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 98th and home prices 135th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Columbia, your take-home is worth about $65,637 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 120th of 300↑39.7%$80,142
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 50th of 30089 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $89,606
- Per-capita income
- $41,952
- Full-time pay
- $40,533
Housing
- Median rent
- 98th of 300↑22.5%$1,115/mo
- Home value
- 135th of 300↑50.2%$289,500
- Property tax
- $2,275/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 8.41%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 37th of 3003.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 19th of 30049.4%
- Avg commute
- 21st of 30019.8 min
People
- Population
- 217,988
- Population change
- +4.5%
- Median age
- 34.3 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 7%
- Broadband
- 91.4%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 52nd of 30039
- Natural-hazard loss
- 132nd of 300$11/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 127th of 30017.8%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — columbia rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Columbia
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Pharmacists
- $139,430
- IT managers
- $129,700
- Financial managers
- $124,120
- Lawyers
- $107,890
- Software developers
- $101,020
- Registered nurses
- $84,330
- Civil engineers
- $83,950
- Web developers
- $81,050
- General & operations managers
- $75,410
- Accountants & auditors
- $73,070
- Family medicine physicians
- $69,590
- Police officers
- $62,080
- Electricians
- $61,500
- Secondary school teachers
- $58,720
- Plumbers
- $58,010
- Construction laborers
- $56,810
- Carpenters
- $56,160
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $52,820
- Elementary school teachers
- $47,920
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $45,870
- Customer service reps
- $41,210
- Janitors
- $35,510
- Retail salespersons
- $31,390
- Cashiers
- $29,910
- Waiters & waitresses
- $29,250
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Columbia metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Missouri are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Illinois1,120
- Colorado781
- California443
- Kansas396
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Columbia
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Columbia metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Columbia metro?
- Median gross rent across the Columbia, MO Metro Area is $1,115 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Columbia.
- What is the median household income in the Columbia metro?
- A typical household in the Columbia, MO Metro Area earns $80,142 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Columbia expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Columbia, MO Metro Area runs about 11% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Columbia metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $89,606 (versus its face value of $80,142). CityLedger rates the Columbia, MO Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Columbia metro?
- The median home value across the Columbia, MO Metro Area is $289,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Columbia metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Columbia, MO Metro Area is 3.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).